NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton has finally secured the public release of a regional rail report into the Narrandera to Tocumwal rail line.
The Nationals committed $500,000 of taxpayer funds to go towards a feasibility report to look into a possible re-opening of the rail route. The commitment was made ahead of the 2017 by-election for the seat of Cootamundra which was retained for the Nationals by Steph Cooke.
The feasibility study was completed in 2018 but has not been released to the public and the rail line has not reopened. Ms Dalton has been fighting for the public release of the document ever since.
Ms Dalton took to Facebook yesterday, declaring victory and promising to post the report online soon.
"After a two-year fight, we finally secured the public release of a regional rail report the National party had kept secret since 2018," stated Ms Dalton.
The situation regarding the report soured locally when former Narrandera Shire Councillor Wes Hall was sacked as its rail rep for calling for the report’s release. Ms Dalton paid tribute to him in her victory post as well as a host of local media outlets who kept the pressure on the government to release the report.
FLOW FM Australia Morning Show host Wayne Phillips praised Dalton and her SFF college Mark Banasiak for pushing securing the release of the report in the face of several legal challenges from the state government.
Mr Phillips says he believes there will be a significant amount of interest in what is contained in the report.